2014 Chevy Silverado Z71 - Maiden Voyage

Extreme Offroad Builds a Silverado Front Runner

Competition is the lifeblood of the custom truck world. At all levels, one-upping the next guy is vital in building a truck. Take the OEs for example, if Ford makes a truck with 360 hp, then Ram will release one with 395 hp and the stage is set. For us custom guys, competition prods us to lift our truck higher than our neighbor, or add nitrous when the other fast truck just got a supercharger—it's a beautiful snowball effect. Unwritten in our hobby is the race to be the first person with keys to a custom truck after a manufacturer just released it. With less than two miles on this Chevy's odometer, the team at Extreme Offroad and Performance, in Katy, Texas, wasted little time creating the first fully custom 2014 Chevy Silverado.

Once the 8-inch Full Throttle Suspension (FTS) lift kit was powdercoated blue to match the Silverado's body color, the team at Extreme disassembled the 2014's factory suspension and bolted on the new lift. Along with the hard parts, Extreme added black FTS 3.0 reservoir coilovers up front and 2.0 FTS shocks in the rear. Despite the even more squared-off fenders, Extreme was able to bolt on 35-inch Toyo Open Country M/T tires mounted to 22x12-inch Hostile Knuckles wheels. The new look perfectly complements the sculpted bodylines of the new body style.

Powering the Chevy is GM's new EcoTec3 V-8, in the familiar 5.3L displacement. New parts are already available for the EcoTec3 engine and to help the V-8 breathe easier, the installers at Extreme swapped out the factory intake, exhaust, and tuner for performance parts. On went aFe's latest cool-air intake on the front of the engine, and out back, a Magnaflow exhaust expels the burnt gases. Keeping everything in check and running its absolute best is a Bully Dog GT gas tuner.

Helping the 2014 Silverado stand out amongst the masses of new Texas Chevys, Austin had the trim paint-matched and a T-Rex Upper Clash mesh grille bolted on up front. Making an arrival statement is easy with the custom LED and HID headlights built by Plain and Simple by Design. Protecting the truck from any off-road mishaps, N-Fab bumpers, front and rear, were installed and complemented by a full array of Rigid LED lightbars. The last thing people see when Austin drives by is the custom airbrushing found on the tailgate.

Inside the Crew Cab, the Extreme crew added silver stitching to the heated/cooled black leather seats and wrapped the headliner and pillars in black suede. Two Kicker 12-inch subs are hidden away under the back seat and a Kicker 1000/1 keeps plenty of juice flowing to the subs for ear-blasting bass. A four-channel Kicker 500-watt amp powers the Kicker QS6.5 components found in each door. It's a simple interior that Austin doesn't have to make any compromises to live with. Stepping up into the truck is easy thanks to the powered running boards from Amp Research.

In less than two months time, Austin helped companies R&D for new parts, found which combinations look best for on and off-road performance, and created a custom Chevy that makes for the perfect 2014 maiden voyage.